All things Scot at an­niver­sary

Bag­pipes, hag­gis, kilts and all things Scot­tish will be on dis­play when Ban­nock­burn com­mem­o­rates the 700th an­niver­sary of the bat­tle at its name­sake next year. The two-day bat­tle – on June 23 and 24, 1314 – be­tween the Scot­tish and the English was won by the Scots and is con­sid­ered to be one of the most de­ci­sive bat­tles of the First War of Scot­tish In­de­pen­dence. One of the or­gan­is­ers of the com­mem­o­ra­tions, Terry Em­mitt, said a five-day fes­ti­val was pro­posed from June 20 to 24, which co­in­cided with the 2014 Queen­stown Win­ter Fes­ti­val. The owner of Cromwell’s new High­lands Motorsport Park, Tony Quinn, was of Scot­tish de­scent and was keen to sup­port the fes­ti­val. It was likely some of the events would be held at the park, with oth­ers tak­ing place at Ban­nock­burn, Mr Em­mitt said. Five days of ac­tiv­i­ties had been pro­posed, but or­gan­is­ers wanted to hear com­mu­nity mem­bers’ ideas. Th­ese could be emailed to info@cromwell.org.nz, Mr Em­mitt said. Among the events pro­posed was a ‘‘bat­tle’’ be­tween Scot­tish and English ‘‘soldiers,’’ us­ing flour bombs and pa­per swords and car­ry­ing flags and ban­ners. It would be pre­ceded by tra­di­tional High­land games, in­clud­ing hag­gis hurl­ing, caber toss­ing, stone car­ry­ing, mead sculling and gob­let ob­sta­cle rac­ing. The sig­nif­i­cant in­flu­ence Scot­tish writ­ers and po­ets have had on the mod­ern world would be dis­cussed at a tra­di­tional Scot­tish high tea, and The Long­est Scot­tish Ta­ble Lunch was pro­posed, with a hag­gis cer­e­mony, high­land dancers and por­ridge wrestling. Two per­ma­nent mon­u­ments com­mem­o­rat­ing the bat­tle were also be­ing con­sid­ered – the National Trust for Scot­land had de­vel­oped a logo rep­re­sent­ing the bat­tle, where each let­ter of the word Ban­nock­burn re­flected an as­pect of the fight. Mr Em­mitt said adding the logo to the ex­ist­ing Heart of the Desert sign at the Ban­nock­burn Bridge had been pro­posed. There was also a sug­ges­tion to copy a mon­u­ment at Dunedin’s Sig­nal Hill Look­out, where a brass plaque on a rock reads ‘‘This stone, hewn from the rock on which Ed­in­burgh Cas­tle stands, was given as a cen­ten­nial me­mo­rial to­ken by the peo­ple of Ed­in­burgh to sig­nify the bond which for­ever binds the cities of Ed­in­burgh and Dunedin. Auld Lang Syne. 3 April 1941’’. Mr Em­mitt said or­gan­is­ers hoped to get a rock from Ban­nock­burn or Stir­ling Cas­tle and place it be­neath the Heart of the Desert sign.